What It Is

The Simply Pets Online Slow Feed Bowl is a food dish featuring a maze design that encourages your dog to eat more slowly. It was created by two vets and claims to reduce bloating and regurgitation.

How We Use It

Sylvie, our Labrador Retriever, will wolf down her food if we give it to her in a normal food bowl. And, because she’s large (75 pounds), we were a little worried about such fast eating contributing to bloat. We also wanted something that would keep her occupied for longer than the 30 seconds it took her to eat every meal.

Enter the slow feeder bowl.

The first few times we gave Sylvie her meals in this bowl were pretty entertaining — and noisy: She pushed it halfway across the kitchen floor in her attempts to get every piece of kibble out of it. (She’s since figured out how to prop it against a nearby cabinet.)

We now feed most of her meals out of this bowl.

Pros

Sylvie definitely takes longer to eat her food when it’s served in the slow feed bowl. She also doesn’t hack or choke anymore because she’s eating too fast. (Next on our list: a slow drink bowl to keep her from gulping her water and then regurgitating it right back up!)

We also like that the bowl is made out of a more eco-friendly material than plastic, and it feels sturdy and well made.

The bowl is dishwasher safe, which makes it somewhat easier to clean (see “Cons” below).

Cons

Yes, it’s dishwasher-safe, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to clean. The bowl starts to gather crumbs and crud pretty quickly, and it’s tough to get them out with a normal scrubbing brush. We’ve even tried a toothbrush without much luck.

It’s even worse if you’re adding any supplements to your dog’s dry kibble. We sprinkle a powder on top of Sylvie’s food, and it’s almost impossible to get out of the bowl’s nooks and crannies. Be prepared to give the bowl frequent soaks, scrubs, or rinses if you’re not running your dishwasher every day.

Cost and Where You Can Buy It

The Simply Pets Online Slow Feed Bowl costs about $20 at Amazon. You can also purchase it at the Simply Pets Online website (U.S. customers pay extra for shipping from the U.K.)

Sarah Schlichter is a writer, editor, and dog mom whose work has appeared at NerdWallet, SmarterTravel, Cruise Critic, and FamilyVacationist, among others. Learn more about Sarah at her website.